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Best AR 15 lowers?

Jbones1983

Jbones1983

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Hey folks, I'm looking into building an AR 15, I want to make it kind of a long term project, just get different parts when I can. Anyhow I figured I need to start out with the lower but I'm a little confused on what one to go for.

From what I understand pretty much all stripped lowers are essentially the same, but looking online I'm seeing a variety of prices. I'm sure there are a few people on here that have built an AR so what lower should I go for? What should I stay away from? What's a good place in Mass to buy a stripped lower?

Thanks
 
I'm new to this and just built my first one, but from what I was informed almost al lowers are the same the less expensive ones are mold poured aluminum, the more expensive ones are milled and cut from a single block of billet aluminum. Then it comes down to finish, ie: cerakote,nickel boron, and other paints. Custom engraving laser etching custom serial numbers they all add up to the final price. Other then that there pretty much all the same 7076 aluminum. Not sure what you can buy in mass, but stag arms, rguns, dpms are all your pretty standard lowers, the more expensive ones, spikes tactical, noveske there made from solid blocks of aluminum cut and milledfrom one block not poured they have price tags around 350-500$ rather then 100-150 for the others.
 
Once you get your lower set some of the better parts kits I've seen are magpuls because it comes with extra detent pins. It took me an hour to build my lower using tools around my house I used vise grips taped to push my roll pin Into the bolt catch it pushed right it the trigger guard pin was a little harder but eventually went in. I did lose a detent pin luckily I had extra. If you have any questions from a beginner standpoint when your finally assembling it shoot me a pm and I can let you know how I did it with minimal tools.
 
1903Collector said:
Someone please insert the "Oh shit not this again picture" please.
Click to expand...

True

There are two types of lowers, forged and billet. Forged are made from a mold and cleaned up, billet are milled from a solid block of aluminum. Billet costs more because of the manufacturing process and more material used/lost in the process. As long as the lower is built to mil specs, you will be fine. There are a shit ton of makers out there for forged ones, and a decent amount of billet ones. I used an American Weapon Systems forged lower for my first build, and now I am using a Mega Arms billet lower for my second. A lot of stores carry stripped lowers from Stag Arms, S&W, and some others. I would say buy online and have it shipped to your FFL, but you have to figure in shipping and FFL transfer fee into the overall cost. You will be able to choose the manufacturer/roll marks better that way instead of have to settle for whatever your local shop has.
 
retroLS1 said:
True

There are two types of lowers, forged and billet. Forged are made from a mold and cleaned up, billet are milled from a solid block of aluminum. Billet costs more because of the manufacturing process and more material used/lost in the process. As long as the lower is built to mil specs, you will be fine. There are a shit ton of makers out there for forged ones, and a decent amount of billet ones. I used an American Weapon Systems forged lower for my first build, and now I am using a Mega Arms billet lower for my second. A lot of stores carry stripped lowers from Stag Arms, S&W, and some others. I would say buy online and have it shipped to your FFL, but you have to figure in shipping and FFL transfer fee into the overall cost. You will be able to choose the manufacturer/roll marks better that way instead of have to settle for whatever your local shop has.
Click to expand...

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

You described casting not forging. Please google it so you can educate yourself.

I'm not going to explain it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forging

Just get a simple mil-spec style lower. It will be made of 7075 Aluminum forging and heat treated to T3. It will be hard anodized. There are dozens of good products out there because most are actually made by only a handful of manufacturers. Aeroprecision and Spikes are two very reasonably priced lowers that are properly made.

The benefit of billet receivers is that the makers can make them look really cool since modern CNC machine tools can be set up to make much more complex shapes. Some billet lowers just look cool. Some deviate from the mil spec in ways that their maker thinks enhances functionality. Either way, billet lowers cost 3X what a good forged lower costs. The only reason to get one is really for the cool factor.

I would not spend for something like a Noveske unless I really wanted their name on the lower. (It could help resale value if you are building with other Noveske parts) Noveske sources from the same people everyone else sources from . Its no better than a $79 aero-precision lower.

Finally, remember that the lower in an AR doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. It holds the fire control parts in proper alignment and holds the mag in proper alignment with the bolt. So any properly dimensioned mil-spec lower will work as well as anything else.

I don't know why I'm going on, but I just want to make sure you realize that for every dollar you spend over a $79 Spikes, you are only getting either sexy looks or a sexy name.

Don
 
Jbones1983 said:
Hey folks, I'm looking into building an AR 15, I want to make it kind of a long term project, just get different parts when I can. Anyhow I figured I need to start out with the lower but I'm a little confused on what one to go for.

From what I understand pretty much all stripped lowers are essentially the same, but looking online I'm seeing a variety of prices. I'm sure there are a few people on here that have built an AR so what lower should I go for? What should I stay away from? What's a good place in Mass to buy a stripped lower?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Why don't you go Green and get in on he next group buy in the Members Section.
Nearly 100 of us just got Detroit Gun Works lowers and there's a huge thread discussing the builds.
There have been many of these group buys from many different makers and there may be another happening soon.
 
I'm a big fan of Yankee Hill products in general. I bought several of their lowers in the last group buy.

Having said that in today's world of ubiquitous manufacturing and very detailed CNC programs I'll bet there's not a lot of difference. Stick with a vendor that will be there and will stand behind their product.
 
Yikes. No need to lambaste. The only difference I can see between my Spikes (dueling penises spider lower, not their special lowers) and Mega lower is the anodizing and finish on the Mega lower is much much nicer. I expect that as they machine and make their own lowers in house.


dcmdon said:
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

You described casting not forging. Please google it so you can educate yourself.

I'm not going to explain it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forging

Just get a simple mil-spec style lower. It will be made of 7075 Aluminum forging and heat treated to T3. It will be hard anodized. There are dozens of good products out there because most are actually made by only a handful of manufacturers. Aeroprecision and Spikes are two very reasonably priced lowers that are properly made.

The benefit of billet receivers is that the makers can make them look really cool since modern CNC machine tools can be set up to make much more complex shapes. Some billet lowers just look cool. Some deviate from the mil spec in ways that their maker thinks enhances functionality. Either way, billet lowers cost 3X what a good forged lower costs. The only reason to get one is really for the cool factor.

I would not spend for something like a Noveske unless I really wanted their name on the lower. (It could help resale value if you are building with other Noveske parts) Noveske sources from the same people everyone else sources from . Its no better than a $79 aero-precision lower.

Finally, remember that the lower in an AR doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. It holds the fire control parts in proper alignment and holds the mag in proper alignment with the bolt. So any properly dimensioned mil-spec lower will work as well as anything else.

I don't know why I'm going on, but I just want to make sure you realize that for every dollar you spend over a $79 Spikes, you are only getting either sexy looks or a sexy name.

Don
Click to expand...
 
dcmdon said:
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

You described casting not forging. Please google it so you can educate yourself.

I'm not going to explain it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forging

Just get a simple mil-spec style lower. It will be made of 7075 Aluminum forging and heat treated to T3. It will be hard anodized. There are dozens of good products out there because most are actually made by only a handful of manufacturers. Aeroprecision and Spikes are two very reasonably priced lowers that are properly made.

The benefit of billet receivers is that the makers can make them look really cool since modern CNC machine tools can be set up to make much more complex shapes. Some billet lowers just look cool. Some deviate from the mil spec in ways that their maker thinks enhances functionality. Either way, billet lowers cost 3X what a good forged lower costs. The only reason to get one is really for the cool factor.

I would not spend for something like a Noveske unless I really wanted their name on the lower. (It could help resale value if you are building with other Noveske parts) Noveske sources from the same people everyone else sources from . Its no better than a $79 aero-precision lower.

Finally, remember that the lower in an AR doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. It holds the fire control parts in proper alignment and holds the mag in proper alignment with the bolt. So any properly dimensioned mil-spec lower will work as well as anything else.

I don't know why I'm going on, but I just want to make sure you realize that for every dollar you spend over a $79 Spikes, you are only getting either sexy looks or a sexy name.

Don
Click to expand...

True, I suppose the way I worded it wasn't completely accurate but I mainly wanted to outline the biggest difference between a forged and billet. Forged is much much stronger than a cast part, for sure. Billet has the nice "custom" look.
 
Forged is stronger for a given material. In the case of guns made by ruger, they use a tougher type of metal to make up for it. They are able to use tougher metal because investment casting allows them to make a part that is very close to the finished product. So they don't have to machine it much. Its all a cascading series of trade offs.

Forged parts are literally hammered into shape using dies.
Something can also be roller forged where the metal is rolled between two rollers

And this is where it gets interesting.
Some billet is cast into ingots or extruded into bars and thats it.
Some billet is roller forged after being extruded.

If your "billet" lower is made from a straight casting or extrusion, then you've got a casting machined to look sexy but with less durability than a basic forged mil-spec lower.
With billet, you are at the mercy of the maker. So buy from a good maker.
 
dcmdon said:
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

You described casting not forging. Please google it so you can educate yourself.

I'm not going to explain it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forging

Just get a simple mil-spec style lower. It will be made of 7075 Aluminum forging and heat treated to T3. It will be hard anodized. There are dozens of good products out there because most are actually made by only a handful of manufacturers. Aeroprecision and Spikes are two very reasonably priced lowers that are properly made.

The benefit of billet receivers is that the makers can make them look really cool since modern CNC machine tools can be set up to make much more complex shapes. Some billet lowers just look cool. Some deviate from the mil spec in ways that their maker thinks enhances functionality. Either way, billet lowers cost 3X what a good forged lower costs. The only reason to get one is really for the cool factor.

I would not spend for something like a Noveske unless I really wanted their name on the lower. (It could help resale value if you are building with other Noveske parts) Noveske sources from the same people everyone else sources from . Its no better than a $79 aero-precision lower.

Finally, remember that the lower in an AR doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. It holds the fire control parts in proper alignment and holds the mag in proper alignment with the bolt. So any properly dimensioned mil-spec lower will work as well as anything else.

I don't know why I'm going on, but I just want to make sure you realize that for every dollar you spend over a $79 Spikes, you are only getting either sexy looks or a sexy name.

Don
Click to expand...

Very well said, Don! I was going to write something similar yesterday to point out the flaws in that post, but because of time constraints, decided to let it slide. Your last 2 statements really sum things up nicely. It really comes down to whose rollmark you prefer these days. I personally went for a Spike's "Punisher" lower on my last build just for the cool factor.[wink] I worked for many years as a machinist, so have always had a soft spot for billet stuff, however in the case of AR lowers, I prefer the smoother contours of the forged versions, and in most cases feel they are more durable depending on how the "billet" was formed before machining. The only reason I would do a billet lower is if I wanted to build a polished "bling" rifle.[laugh]
 
Last edited:
Pretty much the same advice here. Get whatever you like the looks of (i.e. Some don't like the Stag logo)and/or best deal you can find. I have built 3 AR's now with a Stag, Yankee Hill, and S&W lower and they all work just as good as the others.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk
 
One other thing to ponder. Getting a fancy upper may get you something. The upper is where the magic happens in an AR. Its where the squareness of the bolt to the chamber matters. Its where the squareness of the bbl threads matters. Its where all the stuff that affects accuracy happens.

Will a really cool JP upper with a lot more aluminum help with your AR's accuracy? I don't know. But its more likely to help you than a mega trick lower will.

Don

2054.jpg
 
dcmdon said:
I don't know why I'm going on, but I just want to make sure you realize that for every dollar you spend over a $79 Spikes, you are only getting either sexy looks or a sexy name.

Don
Click to expand...

No name is sexier than Detroit Gun Works!!!!!
 
img_3582_1.jpg


img_3585_1.jpg



"Send it" like chinalfr from my can attached to a string from another can in the lair of the dark lord kramdar.
 
dcmdon said:
One other thing to ponder. Getting a fancy upper may get you something. The upper is where the magic happens in an AR. Its where the squareness of the bolt to the chamber matters. Its where the squareness of the bbl threads matters. Its where all the stuff that affects accuracy happens.

Will a really cool JP upper with a lot more aluminum help with your AR's accuracy? I don't know. But its more likely to help you than a mega trick lower will.

Don

2054.jpg
Click to expand...

Another excellent point, Don, you are really on a roll today!
 

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